Volu 7A, Chapter 2: Girl Who Gathers Happiness
Finding a place for yourself
Is done by confirming your relationships
Point Allocation (Sowhere to Settle Down)
Asama thought while standing in front of a bathhouse locker.
Adele and Yoshiyasu had already removed their clothes and Yoshiyasu loudly slapped a towel over her shoulder and entered the bath area, which seed oddly dashing or even yakuza-like.
At any rate, Asama’s problem was not her tattered shrine maiden outfit.
…What am I supposed to do with Toori-kun’s shirt?
Washing it and returning it would be the normal option, but since he had been caught in the collapse as well, the hem of the shirt was shredded and it had holes torn in it.
Also, it was for his crossdressing, so it was a won’s shirt.
It was too badly damaged to wash and returning it would feel like fully approving of his crossdressing jokes.
…Although co to think of it, he does have a full shrine maiden crossdressing set in my room!
She did not feel particularly proud of that.
But in all seriousness, what was she supposed to do with the shirt? She had removed it, but she did not know what to do next.
Throwing it out was an option, but she felt like she needed his approval for that. Plus, it was a nto of what had happened just a few hours ago.
But keeping it also felt like sothing she would need his approval for. There was no way her personality would let her keep it around without permission.
But even if I do keep it around, I would have to wash it. It has blood on it and all the dirt is unsanitary. You can’t keep around clothing that’s this filth-…actually, Mito might do it in order to preserve the scent. Yes, and her mother almost certainly would.
“Honey? We had a busy day, but we’re going to have an even busier night, so how about we start by changing clothes? Yes, your clothes are over here. Yes, it’s a full set including a handkerchief. …Oh? Don’t be silly. I will be taking your clothes with to the battlefield. And if that isn’t enough, I can run back in a jiff to get a whiff to help tide over, so make sure you’re ready for that. Oh, you don’t need to prepare a place for us. I know that you enjoy the more impromptu locations better. And it gets more excited too. …Yes, so please get changed. Right here. Yes. Don’t worry, no one will notice, so there’s nothing at all to worry about.”
…Yes, Mito’s mother would definitely go with the sll.
How do you say “sll” in French? wondered Asama before realizing sothing.
…My pain-in-butt-ness is reaching a whole new level, isn’t it!? It must be!
All of her thoughts had been about making excuses for herself or rationalizing her thoughts.
I really have changed, she belatedly realized.
After all, she had used to make excuses for why she should suppress her real feelings, but now she was making excuses for why she should let those real feelings out.
In other words, her lid had evolved. It was now an Advanced Lid.
No, looking at the expression again, it was no longer a lid ant to hide sothing. It was more like a tray ant to present sothing. And if she was to follow that taphor even further…
…I’m presenting myself to him on a tray!
Wait, what am I even thinking!? she corrected herself 3 seconds later, but then she realized sothing else.
…N-none of this solves my problem!
“Ugh.”
She could not believe herself.
The old lid had been bad, but this new lid almost seed worse about sending her thoughts spiraling endlessly without accomplishing anything.
I really can’t believe this, she thought while hanging her head.
This lid did not leave her in a bad mood like the previous one had, but that provided less of an incentive to stop her thoughts from bouncing back and forth and she felt like she ended up trapped like this for even longer.
Ti was the real problem. It scared her how much ti could pass while she worked her brain aninglessly.
…Especially at tis like this when I have to work with the others.
This is a group effort. I need to stay on the sa page as the others so we can work toward a solution. So I need to stop these aningless thoughts, look to the others, and make a real effort here!
“That’s right!”
With the crossdressing shirt in hand, Asama turned around to face the others.
They were about 5 ters away and they had already removed their clothes.
“Eh?”
She was the only one still dressed.
And Mitotsudaira took a step forward from the group.
“Tomo? You’ve been lost in thought and groaning over there, so are you all right?”
“Eh? Oh, um, well, sorry.”
“Heh heh. I know what this is! You’re thinking about all sorts of things cause you and my foolish brother smooched in the depths of Yomi! You’ll be saying stuff like ‘O-oh, no. How can I ever sleep tonight? I’m just way too hot and bothered. Heh heh heh.’ and then make sothing go boom with an arrow in the middle of the night!”
“I will do nothing of the sort!”
“Well, that aside,” said Horizon. “This ans Asama-sama has taken the lead over Mitotsudaira-sama.”
“Wh-what is that supposed to an!?” asked Mitotsudaira.
“Nothing really. And do not worry. I have the #1 spot.”
Just as Asama assud that was Horizon’s brand of jealousy, Horizon sighed and continued.
“And it ans that idiot is still alive because Asama-sama was there for him.”
Mitotsudaira agreed with what Horizon said.
…That is very true.
“Judge,” continued Horizon. “We should all celebrate this. So I will treat everyone to so coffee milk later.”
It was impressive that Naito could cheer and high-five Naruze over that.
But Mitotsudaira understood what Horizon was saying.
…I’m glad Tomo was there.
Asama had understood the Yomi spell and she had been thinking about their king.
In other words, she had saved their king after he fell into Yomi.
anwhile, Horizon had done nothing this ti. If anything, Mitotsudaira had saved Horizon.
But Horizon had given Asama a place for her relationship and that had saved their king.
Asama had done sothing Horizon could not. And…
“That does not make her a replacent for Horizon.”
“Judge. If she had done sothing I could have done, then you could call her a replacent, but that is not what happened. She did sothing I could not, so Asama-sama earns 1 point.”
The Horizon Rules seed to be in play here, but Mitotsudaira chose not to ask about it. Doing so would be far too dangerous.
But once she thought about it, it all kind of made sense.
…We approach “completion” as we tie all our relationships together, don’t we?
That kind of reminded Mitotsudaira of the concept of a nation.
A nation was not just its king or pri minister, nor was it run only by them. It was only a complete whole when the roles were split up between different organizations and individuals.
So Mitotsudaira decided to ask the question that ca to mind.
“Um, Horizon?”
“Judge, what is it?”
“Judge.” Mitotsudaira nodded and spoke her mind. “You said everyone is welco to join you, but the relationship you were referring to is centered on all of us, and not just you and my king, isn’t it?”
Mitotsudaira only asked to confirm what she already knew.
“Judge.”
And she heard Horizon’s imdiate response.
“Relationships are a mutual thing. I do think your relationship includes a master/servant aspect, but when looking at it from your relationship with all of us or from the king’s viewpoint, you are the first to consider your king when it cos to the things that are impossible for him. There are also problems that Asama-sama and I solve, but I think this is getting a little long already.”
Naruze raised her hand.
“Can you simplify that so I can use it?”
“You’re going to draw us, aren’t you!?” accused Mitotsudaira. “You are, aren’t you!?”
“Who would be dumb enough to miss out on this fantastic material?”
For so reason, Mitotsudaira felt like she had lost this round.
But Narumi spoke up after sealing up her parts to waterproof them and draping a towel over her shoulder.
“Just as a knight will help her king, it is only natural for a king to help his knight. And for the things that are too much or too trivial for the king to handle, it seems fair to if soone else from that web of relationships helps out instead.” She took a breath and smiled bitterly. “Again, it’s only natural. If you don’t help soone and that relationship breaks down, the entire web will fall apart. So you build a community where everyone exists at the sa level and can support each other.”
Besides…
“Date will be in a situation like that before long. With the Siege of Odawara complete, they have to deal with Masamune’s late arrival problem.”
Adele was not sure what the Date Vice Chancellor ant, so she tilted her head asked the girl who was gathering up her hair.
“Late arrival problem? What’s that? Was Date late shipping out so local products or sothing?”
“What are Date’s local specialties?” asked Mitotsudaira.
Naruze was quick to reply.
“Kiritanpo. …Now, Adele, can you tell what other Date specialty is like that? And by ‘like that’, I an a long rod that people like to put in their mouth!”
“Wh-why would you ask !? Ask the Date Vice Chancellor!”
“Calm down,” said Masazumi as she intervened. And she answered the riddle with a troubled smile on her face. “I assu you an a straw. A straw for their Date latte.”
Mar-Ga: “Okay, I’m done… I just want to go ho and crawl into bed… I can’t keep going… A straw? Ha ha, oh, it slls like Margot here. Can I blow on it all? A Date latte?”
Gold Mar: “Ga-chan! Co back to ! dic! diiiiiic!”
Smoking Girl: “Don’t the Weiss Hexen usually play the dic role?”
Vice President: “Dammit! Dammit! Don’t you forget this! I’ll definitely make you laugh with the espresso joke I’m brewing up! So I hope you’re ready!”
Unturning: “Also, this has nothing to do with shipping out local products.”
Mitotsudaira heard Narumi explain while glaring at everyone else.
“During the Siege of Odawara, Date was thinking of working with the other nations to fight back against Hashiba. Because of that, they missed their timing and were late arriving at Odawara, so they will be criticized for that. Masamune has to go make a theatrical apology to Hashiba by wearing burial garb and saying she is there to die. And later, after earning suspicion for a different issue, Masamune has to go apologize to Hashiba in Kyoto while wearing burial garb and carrying a cross.”
“As the Mito Lord, I have read up on most of what happens, but hearing it again, it sounds a lot like sothing the Secretary would think up.”
“I would rather Date did not take things to his level,” said Narumi. “Anyway, Date has to be careful about that for the ti being. If Masamune is called in now, she would function as a hostage. The retainers and everyone else need to help out so she can avoid that.”
“Sounds like a lot of trouble,” said Mitotsudaira. “But the best response to trouble is to help each other out.”
“True. And even though not all of us have inherited nas, the different academy committees are always helping each other out.”
That response ca from Ookubo who entered the bathhouse with Kanou.
“Oh, I already bathed plenty at Odawara, so I’ll wait here. Think of as a guard.”
“If you say so,” said Mitotsudaira as Horizon nodded.
“Now, Mitotsudaira-sama, if you ever feel the need for so help from a right arm that can crawl around on its own, that idiot will be no help whatsoever. So in those cases, I can help you.”
Mitotsudaira looked down to see Horizon’s detached right arm looking up at her from the floor.
“I really don’t think that’s ever going to co up.”
The right arm hung its hand and crawled sadly behind Horizon.
When the others saw that…
“Mito-tsan is bullying the arm.”
“The poor thing thought this was its ti to shine and she just dashed its hopes to pieces.”
“She maybe could have found a better way to say that.”
“H-how is this my fault!?”
But then a confused voice arrived from the entrance.
“How can you pull off a trick like that?”
Everyone’s focus shifted to Ookubo (the speaker) and then Horizon (the one spoken to). Futayo tilted her head with her towel draped over Tonbo Spare.
“Is that a privilege exclusive to Horizon-sama?”
“Wait just a second.”
Narumi tilted her head and slowly detached her prosthetic arm from her right shoulder.
It simply fell toward the floor.
“Oops.”
She must have thought it would damage the floor because she caught it with her prosthetic leg’s foot and then rolled it along like a soccer ball. And…
“————”
She narrowed her eyes.
“Ah.”
The prosthetic arm’s fingers moved and the wrist shook, but…
“Can you not do it?”
Naito asked that just as it ca to an end.
For a few seconds they all grumbled in understanding and Narumi nodded a few tis.
“Mine enter sleep mode to preserve their functionality, so it might be different if I shut that off.”
“I see,” said soone else.
It was Gin. She looked at her prosthetic arms.
“Mine are forced into sleep mode if I do not switch them to remote control mode while removing them, so they could not move around autonomously.”
“Does that an Horizon’s don’t enter sleep mode?”
“They will if their fuel is close to running out,” explained Horizon. “But they are more like a part of my body than prosthetic arms, so they don’t normally go to sleep. In other words…”
In other words…
“They are hardy.”
“Hardy!?”
“Judge. You could say they are very strong and healthy prosthetic arms. …So how about it, Mitotsudaira-sama? Do you feel the need for a helping hand now?”
Mitotsudaira found a way to politely turn down the offer.
But soone laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
It was Kimi. And the girl spoke while glancing over at her.
“Looks like you still have a lot to learn about your knight and king relationship.”
“Really?”
“Judge. Of course. I an, isn’t there one thing my foolish brother can do for you that none us can do in his place?”
“Eh?”
Mitotsudaira was confused at first, but Asama eventually realized what Kimi must have ant.
“Wait, Kimi!”
When Asama blushed and protested, Mitotsudaira figured it out too. But the smile on Kimi’s face only grew.
“Heh heh. I was talking about the snacks and als he cooks for you. …What were you thinking, Asama?”
“K-Kimi, you are getting really carried away today!”
“What’s wrong with that?” The idiot sister’s smile would not die. And, “Mitotsudaira? If you’re jealous of Asama’s shirt, you just have beg. The wolf did her job too, after all. You might not be rewarded if you sit around waiting for it, but there is a way to beg without speaking a word.”
She was not sure what to say to this. That girl would be so much easier to deal with if she could figure that out.
…But I’m so bad at this kind of thing!
Kimi then looked back behind them.
“Of course, being able to carry on like that is one form of happiness. And there are other forms of happiness as well.”
Everyone followed her gaze and found flowers in the bathhouse entrance.
It was Mary.
For a while now, she had been hanging her head with her hands on her cheeks and ether flowers blossoming around her. She suddenly noticed their attention within the light of the fallen flowers.
“Eh? U-um, am I in the way?”
“No, you’re fine, Mary. But you can go take your bath without waiting for the rest of us.”
They could hear Yoshiyasu doing so solo bath karaoke with an auditory spell.
But Mary glanced at them for a mont, and…
“Um, and what are they doing in the n’s bath?”
“Judge. My king and the others should be preparing to share their information.”
“Y-yes, that’s right. But, um, I...” Mary blushed and hung her head. “I shared a bath with master Tenzou back in England, but now I’m thinking maybe that was innapropriate.”
Naruze readied her pen, but Mitotsudaira was impressed that not one of the girls there even considered stopping her.
“Okay, everyone! You ready for so peeping!? Watch and then copy my every move!”
Tenzou watched the idiot make that bizarre statent and then start climbing up the wall separating the n’s and won’s baths.
The wall was wooden and the idiot was surprisingly nimble as he scrambled up the narrow support columns and the crossbeams.
He made his way to the ceiling where there was a 50cm ventilation gap connecting the two baths at the top of the wall.
…Peeping through there would be the standard route.
Tenzou could use his wall-climbing skills to reach that opening in less than a second, but in his opinion, that would not be true peeping. To him, the value of peeping was that sense of hope that a great treasure might await you at the end of a long and arduous journey.
…Not that it has anything to do with now that I have Mary-dono so close by.
But then why is he performing a climbing peep when he has Horizon-dono, Asama-dono, and Mitotsudaira-dono?
“Toori-dono, why do you peep?”
He felt like he had asked this boy that question countless tis, but things seed different now, so he asked again.
“You don’t have to peep anymore, do you?”
Hearing that, the idiot looked down from above.
He gave Tenzou a look of absolute contempt.
“Tenzou, can you say that again?
“I was pointing out that you don’t have to peep anymore, Toori-dono.”
The idiot turned to the side.
“Kahhh, peh!”
“Wh-why are you mi-spitting!?”
“Hey, everyone! Right here we’ve got the boring kind of guy who won his ga of sugoroku by pure dumb luck!”
“What is it with you and those weirdly accurate analogies!?”
Tenzou pointed up and shouted at the boy, but then he felt sothing hard on his shoulder. It was Urquiaga’s finger.
“Tenzou, you disappoint .”
“U-Uqui-dono, you don’t have to peep either!”
“Only because Narumi would be entirely unfazed if I did. If there is no reaction, you might as well not have peeped. Don’t you understand that peeping is a two-way interaction!?”
The half-dragon argued quite forcefully.
And then he pointed up.
“Look! The idiot is almost at-…no, I should not call him an idiot. Even if that is how I see him. Anyway, look, Tenzou! Toori is almost at the top! That ans the idiot…no, I should not call him an idiot. Um.”
“I-I get what you’re trying to say, so that’s good enough.”
At any rate, the idiot had arrived near the ceiling.
And he looked through the vent.
…So he can view the girls until they notice him.
“Actually, wait! Mary-dono is over there, so stop that, Toori-dono!”
“Then you join ! C’mon!”
As soon as the idiot said that, two black arms appeared from the other side of the vent.
Eh? thought Tenzou as the left arm wrapped its elbow around one of the vent’s support bars and grabbed the idiot’s neck. The right arm wrapped its elbow around the next support bar and…
“Ah.”
While the idiot dangled down with his neck in the one arm’s grasp, the other began swinging to deliver blow after blow.
Neshinbara spoke up while typing on his keyboard in the bath.
“Ka-thwam, wha-crunch. These sound effects are gold.”
After punching him about 40 tis, the left arm tossed the unmoving idiot into the air.
After so short hang ti, the nudist belly flopped right into the bath. The splashing sound and the pillar of bathwater were both impressive.
“A-are you okay, Toori-dono!?”
Tenzou saw the two arms high-five each other and hop down on the other side of the wall.
…Now that is a formidable foe!
Tenzou was not quite sure why that term ca to mind, but then the idiot stood up from the bath.
He pointed toward the won’s bath.
“H-hey! Horizon! What the hel- heck was that about!?”
“Why did you tone down the one word?”
“Huh!? You don’t get it, Tenzou!? It’s called being polite!”
Tenzou had no idea what this lunatic was saying.
Regardless, the crazy person pointed toward the won’s bath again and struck a pose this ti.
“Horizon! Normally when girls use the vent, it’s for passing soap or scrubbers back and forth!”
Just then, a bar of soap flew through the vent at super speed, ricocheted off the ceiling, and hit the idiot right in the face.
It hit the nudist diagonally in the jaw, so he wobbled while still in his pose.
“——————”
And he collapsed to his knees in the bath.
Tenzou dodged the splash and moved to the washing area.
“Now, then.” He looked around. “I should go ahead and wash up.”
His eyes searched for a rice-bran bag scrubber in the washing area, but…
…There aren’t any?
There were no scrubbers in the tray or basket that usually held them. He wondered why until he saw Urquiaga and Neshinbara holding a basket full of them.
And Neshinbara had a recording sign fra at the ready.
“So what do you do when you don’t have a scrubber on hand? I’d like to know as future reference for my writing. Okay, Crossunite-kun?”
Naito ford a circle with the other girls to listen to Mary.
Mary sat with her back to the edge of the bath and hung her head as if looking down at her chest.
“So, well, when all of you were in England, um, we had yakiniku, right?”
“Judge, judge. That we did.”
“That night, Master Wet Man suggested we take a bath…”
“Wet Man?”
Narumi questioned that, but Naruze stopped her with a sharp “sh”.
Mary did not notice any of it.
“Master Tenzou was considerate enough to not join in the bath, but then I invited him in with .”
“I bet the 1st Special Duty Officer was seated outside muttering so gloomy stuff to himself.”
“M-Master Tenzou is not a gloomy kind of person!”
Mary scolded Adele.
But then she gasped.
“Oh, s-sorry. I shouldn’t have taken that so seriously.”
So she was serious about that, thought Naito while worrying about the ninja’s place on the divine network’s search rankings. Adele also seed mostly surprised by Mary’s reaction.
“No, thank you for giving us such a valuable response.”
…Whatever Ma-yan does, it seems to be a plus for the rest of us.
At any rate, Naruze nodded and urged Mary to continue.
“Please, go on.”
“What are you drawing over there, Naruze?” asked Mitotsudaira.
“Sothing 7 tis more incredible than whatever you’re imagining.”
“Oh,” was all Mary could say.
Then Tenzou’s voice reached them from the n’s bath.
He sounded sowhat hesitant and unsure of himself.
“M-Mary-dono! Do you have a scrubber over there?”
Eh? thought Mary.
…A scrubber.
Those Far Eastern scrubbers were rice-bran bags that functioned a lot like body soap. She had used them a lot since coming here.
But hers was not within reach since she was in the bath.
And…
…Master Tenzou is asking about mine.
That ant he wanted to share the one she had used.
She gasped when she realized what he ant.
“Mary, what’s the matter?” asked Mitotsudaira. “You need to hurry up and give the 1st Special Duty Officer your-…”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because…”
It took all of Mary’s effort to raise her head to look at Mitotsudaira. She looked right in the other girl’s eyes and plainly spoke her heart.
“It’s already touched my body. For example, it will have soaked up my sweat. So if Master Tenzou uses it, not only will it get him dirty, but he might notice how filthy I was.”
Everyone exchanged a glance at that.
And Naito took action. She spread her hands, lowered them to the surface of the bath, and then raised them again.
“One, two, three, go.”
They all shouted in unison.
“Not a chance!!!!”
“Wow, that was powerful. I thought I was going to die, Ga-chan.”
“The bath temperature rose by 7 degrees.”
Mary must have thought the Technohexen were teasing her because she clenched her fists and protested.
“B-but I worked up a sweat during the battle.”
As she tried to argue, Asama placed a hand on her shoulder.
The shrine maiden pointed at the purification spell sign fra that was applying divine protections to the bath.
“It’s okay. It really is, Mary. Besides, if you were too filthy, then I think everyone on the Musashi would be.”
“Judge. Even when I focus on my nose, I can only sll flowers,” added Mitotsudaira.
“Heh heh. That’s probably the dryad blood at work,” said Kimi.
“Judge. Then what do all of you sll like normally?”
Everyone but Kimi froze.
Hori-ko: “Mary-sama has taken us in a very kinky direction without warning.”
Mar-Ga: “Margot! You don’t have to answer for ! You don’t, okay!?”
Unturning: “It can influence combat, so I generally have a deodorizing divine protection active.”
Tachibana Wife: “In my personal life, I have recently started using a peony scent from a divine protection.”
Tonbokiri: “When I work up a sweat, I hop right in the bath.”
Silver Wolf: “That is the best way of handling it. The sll of sweat is generally caused by the oxidation of tabolites and reproduction of germs.”
Gold Mar: “Mito-tsan, you’ve been running with Adele a lot lately, but you’re always so clean. Are you compensating for that with so grooming divine protections?”
Mar-Ga: “Then what about Adele who doesn’t have those?”
Flat Vassal: “W-wait! Why are you all looking at like I never take a bath! I do take baths! Like today, for example!”
Mar-Ga: “Why do you love giving story ideas so much?”
Flat Vassal: “Ah! I shouldn’t have said anything!”
Asama: “Oh, look at that, Adele. With this new system given to us by the divine transmission god, you get a sympathy ssage from the god once you earn 300 points. Work toward that prize, okay?”
Flat Vassal: “I don’t want a sympathy ssage!? Why couldn’t my prize be bigger boobs!?”
Gold Mar: “Now you’re not making any sense. Are you feeling okay?”
Tonbokiri: “That is right, Vassal-dono. No one sees you that way. Because we all looked away just now.”
Flat Vassal: “That’s the sa thing! There’s no difference!”
Asama: “Anyway, Mary, how would you say Tenzou-kun slls? To be blunt, he always focused on his work before eting you, so he could be careless about that sort of thing.”
Mary: “Judge. When he pushed down when we first t, I was too panicked to notice. When he lay on top of next, I was too surprised. And then we were in the bath together.”
Flat Vassal: “How many cris did the 1st Special Duty Officer commit?”
Silver Wolf: “And when we were stuck in England, we had built a decent laundry room on that transport ship by that point.”
Wise Sister: “So did Tenzou start doing his laundry when he realized Mary was a girl? Heh heh. If so, he was being pretty thoughtful right from the beginning.”
“Um, what’s the status on the scrubber, Mary-dono?”
The girls had started pressing their foreheads together as they chatted, but they quickly returned to normal when they heard that voice.
As for Mary…
“W-well, about that…”
“Heh heh heh. Mary! You should rub it all over your body for so indirect fun with Tenzou!”
“Indirect fun?”
When Mary asked that honest question, Asama tried to hit Kimi on the back of the head, but her attack was canceled by Summit Dance. After missing, Asama raised her eyebrows in a smile and pointed at Kimi.
“Kimi? Please don’t teach Mary anything inappropriate.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“Eh?”
Asama froze and looked around. Everyone returned her gaze but looked away imdiately afterwards, so she frantically waved her hands side to side.
“I-I didn’t an anything in particular! So about indirect fun! That um, ans to throw the scrubber back and forth to play a ga without directly interacting! Yes, that’s what it ans.”
Asama repeatedly brushed Kimi’s hand off her shoulder while turning back toward Mary.
“So! To get back on topic! What will you do, Mary?”
“If you ask ,” said Horizon. “You should toss him a scrubber used by so old man so none of Mary-sama’s scent will reach him.”
“This is the won’s bath! The won’s bath!”
“Heh heh. Then how about an unused one? …Horizon!”
“Judge!” said Horizon while her arms slid rapidly along the washing area floor. The left arm stopped in the middle of the washing area while the right arm continued onward. The right arm snatched up a new scrubber from the basket and…
“——————”
The right arm passed it to the left. After catching it, the left arm bent back and leaped. Then it made an overhead swing in midair.
“Nicely done!” said Futayo as she caught the scrubber.
When Futayo passed it to Mary, Horizon spoke.
“Now, Mary-sama, throw it over.”
“J-judge!”
“Yes, throw it to Tenzou-sama!”
Saying that was a mistake. Mary’s arm stiffened mid-throw.
“Ah.”
The scrubber hit Adele square in the face.
There was a wet splat and Mary rushed over to Adele. She held the girl’s head in her arms.
“A-are you okay, Lady Adele!?”
“Nwohhhh! If I was a guy, this would be the view of a lifeti! Actually, this attack from Mary-san might give so kind of spirit divine protection to make mine bigger!”
“Heh heh. Is your current chest flat or nonexistent? …To reward your honesty, you may have both.”
“Also, Mary is part dryad, so wouldn’t she absorb your nutrients and make yours smaller?”
“Please don’t scare like that, Kimi-san and 4th Special Duty Officer!”
“Ignoring that idiocy, how about you try again, Mary!?”
“Judge.”
Mary held up the scrubber in both hands. She slowly kissed it and spilled flowers all around her before looking up in sudden realization.
“Listen, everyone. That was a good luck kiss to ensure the throw works out.”
“That’s fine. So continue. Show everything.”
“Ga-chan, you’re really into this, aren’t you?”
Mary smiled bitterly, took a breath, and threw it. And then…
“Judge. Thank you very much, Mary-dono!”
For so reason, Tenzou’s voice was followed by the sound of water being kicked up and the boys fighting.
anwhile, soone sighed.
It was Masazumi. She and Tsukinowa had been opening and closing different sign fras for a while now.
“Okay, I’ve got everything together. That took so ti, but it probably gave you all ti to relax after the battle. Are you ready to exchange so information to reach a consensus?”
She took a breath and wiped sweat from her brow. And when she moved her hand, she revealed a smile with raised eyebrows.
“Most likely, an issue other than the Kantou Liberation will eat into sumr break.”
She turned to face soone sitting at one end of the bath to stay out of trouble.
“Satomi Student Council President, let’s reconsider a few things while discussing our plans for the future.”
“There are a few things I want to confirm about the present and the future, Satomi Student Council President.”
Yoshiyasu nodded at the Musashi Vice President.
…It’s so hot.
This was her second bath today.
She had taken a long bath and participated in a karaoke contest after fighting at Odawara, so there was no real reason for her to use this bathhouse. She had never taken a second bath in the past. But…
…I can look at it as a purification between battles and a place to share information.
She was with the core of Musashi who were leading the Kantou Liberation. This doubled as a strategy eting, so it was important for her to spend this ti with them.
…I really have changed, haven’t I?
If she had needed to spend ti with people like this back in Satomi, she would have canceled and had her sister or Yoshiyori handle it instead.
But tis had changed and she was Satomi’s representative now.
If she had a younger sister a lot like her and that sister had wanted to cancel sothing like this, would she have been able to smile and allow it?
Of course, there was no need for her to be the sa as her sister and Yoshiyori. Grabbing that hypothetical sister by the collar or ear and dragging her along was a perfectly valid option. But…
“I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Yoshiyasu washed her face off with the bathwater and turned toward the Musashi Vice President.
“I would like to hear Musashi’s plans for the Kantou Liberation.”
The Musashi Vice President nodded in response.
She used a sign fra to display an outside image sent from Musashino’s bridge.
“Let’s see, how should I put this? It’s looking like Musashi might not be able to take part in the Kantou Liberation.”
“Waiiiit!!” shouted Yoshiyasu on reflex. “Then what’s the point of this bath!?”
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